Jaitley to tame Brexit mayhem

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Jaitley seeks to calm Indian markets amid Brexit mayhem

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with Chancellor George Osborne at No 11 Downing Street in London

India’s Finance Ministry on Friday sought to calm stakeholders’ nerves amid mayhem in the financial markets following Britain’s vote to opt out of the European Union. The news pulled the rupee down to below the $68 mark while a key stocks index lost over 1,000 points.

“We respect the referendum’s verdict. We are also aware of its significance in the days ahead and in medium term,” Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tweeted from Beijing.

“We are well prepared to deal with the short and medium term Brexit consequence — strongly committed to our macro-economic framework with focus on stability,” said the finance minister.

“Our macro-economic fundamentals are sound with a very comfortable external position, solid commitment to fiscal discipline and declining inflation,” he added.

“The government and the Reserve Bank of India as well as other regulators are well prepared and working closely together to deal with any short term volatility. Our aim will be to smooth this volatility, minimize its impact on economy in short term. For the medium term, we will pursue our reforms agenda.”

As news spread that Britain has opted out of the European Union (Brexit), a key Indian stock index lost over 1,000 points, or nearly 4 percent, while the rupee dived below the $68 mark.

Around 11:30 am, the sensitive index (Sensex) of the BSE was ruling at 26,054.74 points, down 947.48 points, or 3.51 per cent, while the Nifty of the National Stock Exchange was trading at 7,961.40 points, down 309.05 points, or 3.74 per cent.